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Traditionalism - Russian Orthodox Converts

Traditionalism: Laurie Taylor explores a philosophy rooted in pessimism about modernity and hears about right wing American converts to the Russian Orthodox Church.

Traditionalism and Russian Orthodox Converts – Laurie Taylor talks to Mark Sedgwick, Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at Aarhus University, about the radical project for restoring sacred order. Traditionalism is founded on ancient teachings that, its followers argue, have been handed down from time immemorial and which must be defended from modernity. How has this mystical doctrine come to have contemporary sway on the political right, inspiring ex President Trump's former chief strategist, as well as the Russian philosopher Aleksandr Dugin, sometimes dubbed as β€œPutin’s brain”?

They’re joined by Sarah Riccardi-Swartz, Assistant Professor of Religion and Anthropology at Northeastern University, Boston, who has uncovered an extraordinary story of religious conversion in one corner of Appalachia. Here, a group of American citizens has embraced the Russian Orthodox Church and through it Putin’s New Russia. They look to Russian religion and politics for answers to Western secularism and the loss of traditional family values.

Producer: Jayne Egerton

Available now

28 minutes

Last on

Mon 5 Feb 2024 00:15

Guests and further reading

-Μύ, Β Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at Aarhus University, Denmark

Traditionalism: The Radical Project for Restoring Sacred Order (Pelican)


-Μύ, Assistant Professor of Religion and Anthropology at Northeastern University

Between Heaven and Russia: Religious Conversion and Political Apostasy in Appalachia (Fordham Press).


Broadcasts

  • Wed 31 Jan 2024 16:00
  • Mon 5 Feb 2024 00:15

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